Air conditioner

ABSTRACT

An air conditioner that acquires energy from a high pressure gas includes a gas storage device, a pneumatic engine, a compressor, a cooling system, and a control module. The gas storage device supplies the high pressure gas. A duct guides the high pressure gas into an engine room of the pneumatic engine. The pneumatic engine transforms the high pressure gas into a kinetic energy for output. The compressor is connected to a kinetic energy output of the pneumatic engine. The pneumatic engine drives the compressor to circulate a refrigerant within the cooling system.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The invention relates generally to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a pneumatic air conditioner that consumes high pressure gas.

2. Related art

A conventional air conditioner is also called a cooler/heater. Its compressor is driven by a motor, and the motor is consumes electricity. The compressor allows a refrigerant to circulate within a cooling system, enabling heat exchange to heat up or cool down the air. However, the electricity probably comes from a nuclear power plant or a thermal power plant that burns fossil fuel. The pollution and greenhouse effect caused by these conventional methods of generating electricity is an urgent problem that human must resolve as soon as possible.

In additional, currently there is no solution to the radioactive pollution problem of nuclear power. Moreover, the costs of fossil fuel have been rising and in the near future it might become unpractical or too expensive to use fossil fuel to generate electricity. Furthermore, the exhaust gas resulting from the burning of fossil fuel is not only odorous but also will lead to some health problems.

Moreover, it's likely that there won't be unlimited supply of electricity. In some places where there is no electricity or only unstable supply of electricity, even the richest people may not be able to enjoy the benefits of having an air conditioner.

In fact, many people have successfully invented pneumatic engines that consume compressed air. For example, the inventor of this application has already invented a pneumatic engine and acquired a patent for that in Taiwan, the number of which is TWI327621. The Taiwan patent corresponds to the following issued patent(s)/published application(s): U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,251B2, CN665571, PCT/CN2007/001994. Further description of the structural details of a pneumatic engine is omitted herein. Because a pneumatic engine is driven by compressed gas, the engine will not result in problems such as environment pollution and global warming.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention provide an air conditioner that uses ordinary high pressure gas as an energy source. The air conditioner will not lead to environmental pollution or greenhouse effect.

Embodiments of the invention further provide an air conditioner that can be used even when there is no electricity supply, allowing its user to enjoy the cooling or heating provided by the air conditioner.

Embodiments of the invention further provide an air conditioner that includes a gas storage device, a pneumatic engine, and a cooling system. The gas storage device supplies compressed high pressure gas. The pneumatic engine is connected to the gas storage device and transforms the high pressure gas into a kinetic energy for output. The compressor is connected to a kinetic energy output of the pneumatic engine. The pneumatic engine drives the compressor to circulate a refrigerant within the cooling system.

According to the invention, the gas storage device comprises a liquid nitrogen storage device, a liquid oxygen storage device, and an evaporation chamber, the liquid nitrogen storage device stores liquid nitrogen, the liquid oxygen storage device stores liquid oxygen, after evaporation the liquid nitrogen and the liquid oxygen are stored in the evaporation chamber for propelling the pneumatic engine. The air conditioner is a cooler, a heater, or a cooler/heater.

In one aspect, the air conditioner of the present invention further comprises a regulating valve in between the liquid nitrogen storage device and evaporation chamber, a regulating valve in between the liquid oxygen storage device and the evaporation chamber, and a regulating valve in between the evaporation chamber and the pneumatic engine.

In another aspect, a valve is installed in between the gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, and the valve adjusts a pressure and flow of the high pressure gas entering the pneumatic engine.

A control module is further provided, wherein the control module comprises a gas pressure monitoring unit and an electromagnetic valve control unit, the gas pressure monitoring unit monitors a pressure inside the gas storage device, and the electromagnetic valve control unit drives the valve in order to adjust a pressure and flow of the high pressure gas supplied by the gas storage device to the pneumatic engine.

In still another aspect, the air conditioner of the present invention further comprise a gas refilling device, wherein the gas refilling device comprises a first compressor, the gas storage device comprises at least a first gas storage device and a second gas storage device, an inner pressure of the first gas storage device is higher than an inner pressure of the second gas storage device, a pressure regulating valve is installed in between the first gas storage device and the second gas storage device, the second gas storage device supplies the high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine, a valve is installed in between the second gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, and the pneumatic engine drives the first compressor to supply gas to the second gas storage device.

The gas refilling device further comprises a generator and a second compressor, the gas storage device comprises at least a first gas storage device and a second gas storage device, an inner pressure of the first gas storage device is higher than an inner pressure of the second gas storage device, a pressure regulating valve is installed in between the first gas storage device and the second gas storage device, the second gas storage device supplies the high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine, a valve is installed in between the second gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, the pneumatic engine drives the generator to generate electricity and supply the generated electricity enable the second compressor supplies gas to the second gas storage device. The generator supplies electricity to a cooling fan and a control module of the air conditioner.

The embodiments of the invention use high pressure gas to supply energy to the pneumatic engine. The pneumatic engine uses the energy to drive the compressor to cool down or heat up the air. As a result, the embodiments will not lead to greenhouse effect, and will not create pollution or generate odorous exhaust gas. Furthermore, it's not only easy but also inexpensive to get high pressure gas. Therefore, another advantage of the embodiments is their low costs. A user of the embodiments can enjoy the cooled or heated space even at a place without electricity supply. Moreover, a gas refilling device can be used to increase the gas use efficiency, resolving the problem of swift gas consumption.

Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is fully illustrated by the subsequent detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a structural diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a structural diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a structural diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1, which illustrates an air conditioner 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The air conditioner 100 of this embodiment includes a gas storage device 11, a pneumatic engine 10, a valve 17, a compressor 12, and a cooling system 13.

The gas storage device 11 can be a high pressure gas bottle, for providing compressed high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine 10.

The pneumatic engine 10 and the gas storage device 11 are interconnected via a duct 25. The high pressure gas provided by the gas storage device 11 serves as a source of energy. The pneumatic engine 10 transforms the energy of the high pressure gas into kinetic energy for output. A valve 17 is installed in between the pneumatic engine 10 and the gas storage device 11, for adjusting the pressure and flow of the high pressure gas entering the pneumatic engine 10. The valve 17 can be an electromagnetic one that is easy to control.

The compressor 12 is connected to the pneumatic engine 10 through a transmission device 70. The pneumatic engine 10 drives the compressor 12 to circulate the refrigerant within the cooling system 13. The transmission device 70 can be a belt assembly or other kind of transmission device.

The cooling system 13 can be a conventional cooling system. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment the cooling system 13 includes condenser 131, an expansion valve 132, an evaporator 133, and a pipe line 134. The functions and structures of these components are conventional and hence no further explanation is provided herein.

Please refer to FIG. 2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioner 100 further includes a control module 16. The control module 16 includes a gas pressure monitoring unit 161, an electromagnetic valve control unit 162, and a voltage regulator 163.

The gas pressure monitoring unit 161 monitors the gas pressure inside the gas storage device 11. The gas pressure monitoring unit 161 sends a warning signal to the control module 16 when the detected pressure is too low. The electromagnetic valve control unit 162 drives the valve 17 to adjust the pressure and flow of the high pressure gas provided by the gas storage device 11 to the pneumatic engine 10 so as to stabilize the quality of power generation.

The embodiments use high pressure gas to supply energy to the pneumatic engine 10, and use the kinetic energy outputted by the pneumatic engine 10 to drive the compressor 12 to circulate the refrigerant within the cooling system 13.

The pneumatic engine 10 can be a reciprocal type or a rotational type engine. It can have a single cylinder or a plurality of cylinders arranged horizontally or in a V-shape.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, liquidated gas can be used to replace compressed high pressure gas in the gas storage device 11. After evaporation the volume of the gas can be more than 1000 times larger than the volume of the original liquidated gas. The liquidated gas can contain a single type of gas, such as nitrogen or oxygen. To prevent affecting air quality, the liquidate gas can include both nitrogen and oxygen; the ration of them can be 78:21, just like ordinary air.

The gas storage device 11 of this embodiment has a liquid nitrogen storage device 110, a liquid oxygen storage device 120, and an evaporation chamber 130. The liquid nitrogen storage device 110 stores liquid nitrogen. The liquid oxygen storage device 120 stores liquid oxygen. The evaporation chamber 130 stores the liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen that have evaporated. The evaporated gas can be used to drive the pneumatic engine 10. In between the liquid nitrogen storage device 110 and the evaporation chamber 130 there is a regulating valve 510. In between the liquid oxygen storage device 120 and the evaporation chamber 130 there is a regulating valve 520. The two valves 510 and 520 can adjust the amount of gas that enters the evaporation chamber 130. Both the valves 510 and 520 can be controlled by the control module 16.

In the air conditioner 100 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the compressor 12 must have a high rotation speed in order to generate sufficient electricity. Much high pressure gas will be consumed by the pneumatic engine 10 to enable the compressor 12 reaches the high rotational speed. As a result, the high pressure gas is consumed pretty fast. Some of the torsion provided by the pneumatic engine 10 is not fully used. To resolve the aforementioned problems, the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 further includes a gas refilling device.

Please refer to FIG. 4, the gas refilling device 2 can be realized by two alternatives.

Under a first alternative, the air conditioner 100 further includes a gas refilling device 2. The gas refilling device 2 includes a first compressor 22. The gas storage device 11 has at least a first gas storage device 111 and a second gas storage device 112. The inner pressure of the first gas storage device 111 is higher than that of the second gas storage device 112. In between the first gas storage device 111 and the second gas storage device 112 there is a pressure regulating valve 271. The second gas storage device 112 supplies high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine 10. In between the second gas storage device 112 and the pneumatic engine 10 there is an aforementioned valve 17. The pneumatic engine 10 drives the first compressor 22 to supply gas to the second gas storage device 112.

Please refer to FIGS. 2 and 4 for a second alternative. Under the second alternative, the air conditioner 100 further includes a gas refilling device 20. The gas refilling device 20 includes a second compressor 21 and a generator 14. The gas storage device 11 has at least a first gas storage device 111 and a second gas storage device 112. The inner pressure of the first gas storage device 111 is higher than that of the second gas storage device 112. Furthermore, in between the first gas storage device 111 and the second gas storage device 112 there is a pressure regulating valve 271. The second gas storage device 112 supplies high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine 10. In between the second gas storage device 112 and the pneumatic engine 10 there is an aforementioned valve 17. The valve 17 adjusts the pressure and flow of the high pressure gas that enters the pneumatic engine 10. The pneumatic engine 10 drives the generator 14 to generate electricity and supply electricity to the second compressor 21 so that the second compressor 21 can supply gas to the second gas storage device 112.

The second gas storage device 112 should supply sufficient high pressure gas to drive the pneumatic engine 10.

As shown in FIG. 4, before starting the pneumatic engine 10, the pressure regulating valve 271 should be opened. The opened regulating valve 271 allows high pressure gas to flow from the first gas storage device 111 into the second gas storage device 112. As mentioned above, when being filled with gas, the inner pressure of the first gas storage device 111 is much higher than that of the second gas storage device 112. Once the inner pressure of the second gas storage device 112 reaches a predetermined maximum, the pressure regulating valve 271 closes automatically.

As shown in FIG. 4, before starting the pneumatic engine 10, the valve 17 of the second gas storage device 112 should be opened. The opened valve 17 allows compressed gas to pass through the duct 25 and be guided to drive the pneumatic engine 10. After propelling the pneumatic engine 10, the compressed gas will be discharged into the atmosphere through the air vent 27. Because the output torque of the pneumatic engine 10 is large enough, the pneumatic engine 10 can drive the first compressor 22 through the belt 242. The first compressor 22 compresses gas in the atmosphere into the second gas storage device 112 through the pipe line 275. This process refills some of the consumed compressed gas into the second gas storage device 112. In the meantime, the pneumatic engine 10 drives the generator 14 through the belt 241. The generator 14 supplies some of the generated electricity to the second compressor 21. Through the pipe line 276 some gas is compressed from the atmosphere into the second gas storage device 112. Of course, the pipe lines 275 and 276 have unidirectional valves 273 and 274 to prevent gas leakage. In other words, the unidirectional valves 273 and 274 prevent gas from leaking into the first and second compressors 22 and 21 from the second gas storage device 112.

Although the second compressor 21 and the first compressor 22 can refill some compressed gas, it's not enough to compensate for the high pressure gas used to propel the pneumatic engine 10. To deal with this problem, the high pressure gas stored in the first gas storage device 111 can be used to refill the second gas storage device 112 to compensate for the consumed high pressure gas.

The pressure regulating valve 271 is installed in between the second gas storage device 112 and the first gas storage device 111 of high inner pressure. When the inner pressure of the second gas storage device 112 is lower than a predetermined minimum, the pressure regulating valve 271 will open automatically. The opened pressure regulating valve 271 allows high pressure gas to flow from the first gas storage device 111 into the second gas storage device 112. When the inner pressure of the second gas storage device 112 is higher than a predetermined maximum, the pressure regulating valve 271 will close automatically. The pressure regulating valve 271 ensures that the inner pressure of the second gas storage device 112 is between the predetermined maximum and minimum. This pressure range is suitable for propelling the pneumatic engine 10. Of course, the inner pressure of the first gas storage device 111 will reduce gradually. If the pressure is too low, an external gas-filling device must be used to refill high pressure gas into the first gas storage device 111.

The aforementioned gas-refilling mechanism, as depicted in FIG. 4, lowers down the gas consuming speed. The mechanism can be automatically controlled by the control module 16.

Please refer to FIG. 4. By monitoring the pressure of the first gas storage device 111 and the second gas storage device 112, and controlling the open/close of the pressure regulating valve 271 and the valve 17, the control module 16 allows the pneumatic engine 10 to be driven efficiently. The pneumatic engine 10 then drives the compressor 12 to enable the air conditioner 100 to function.

Please refer to FIG. 2. In an embodiment of the invention, the generator 14 can supply some of the generated electricity to the cooling fan 15, the control module 16, and other component(s) of the air conditioner 100. The voltage regulator 163 can monitor and regulate the output of the generator 14.

The embodiments of the invention use high pressure gas to supply energy to the pneumatic engine 10. The kinetic energy outputted by the pneumatic engine 10 is used to drive the compressor 12 of the air conditioner 100. As a result, the embodiments will not lead to greenhouse effect, and will not create pollution or generate odorous exhaust gas. Furthermore, it's not only easy but also inexpensive to get high pressure gas. Therefore, another advantage of the embodiments is their low costs. Moreover, a gas refilling device can be used to increase the gas use efficiency, resolving the problem of swift gas consumption.

The air conditioner 100 can be a cooler, a heater, or a cooler/heater.

In the foregoing detailed description, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The detailed description and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An air conditioner, comprising: a gas storage device, for providing compressed high pressure gas; a pneumatic engine, connected to the gas storage device, for transforming the high pressure gas into a kinetic energy for output; a cooling system; and a compressor, connected to a kinetic energy output of the pneumatic engine, wherein the pneumatic engine drives the compressor to circulate a refrigerant within the cooling system.
 2. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the gas storage device comprises a liquid nitrogen storage device, a liquid oxygen storage device, and an evaporation chamber, the liquid nitrogen storage device stores liquid nitrogen, the liquid oxygen storage device stores liquid oxygen, after evaporation the liquid nitrogen and the liquid oxygen are stored in the evaporation chamber for propelling the pneumatic engine.
 3. The air conditioner of claim 2, further comprising a regulating valve in between the liquid nitrogen storage device and evaporation chamber, a regulating valve in between the liquid oxygen storage device and the evaporation chamber, and a regulating valve in between the evaporation chamber and the pneumatic engine.
 4. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein a valve is installed in between the gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, and the valve adjusts a pressure and flow of the high pressure gas entering the pneumatic engine.
 5. The air conditioner of claim 4, further comprising a control module, wherein the control module comprises a gas pressure monitoring unit and an electromagnetic valve control unit, the gas pressure monitoring unit monitors a pressure inside the gas storage device, and the electromagnetic valve control unit drives the valve in order to adjust a pressure and flow of the high pressure gas supplied by the gas storage device to the pneumatic engine.
 6. The air conditioner of claim 5, wherein the air conditioner is a cooler, a heater, or a cooler/heater.
 7. The air conditioner of claim 1, further comprising a gas refilling device, wherein the gas refilling device comprises a first compressor, the gas storage device comprises at least a first gas storage device and a second gas storage device, an inner pressure of the first gas storage device is higher than an inner pressure of the second gas storage device, a pressure regulating valve is installed in between the first gas storage device and the second gas storage device, the second gas storage device supplies the high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine, a valve is installed in between the second gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, and the pneumatic engine drives the first compressor to supply gas to the second gas storage device.
 8. The air conditioner of claim 7, wherein the gas refilling device further comprises a generator and a second compressor, the gas storage device comprises at least a first gas storage device and a second gas storage device, an inner pressure of the first gas storage device is higher than an inner pressure of the second gas storage device, a pressure regulating valve is installed in between the first gas storage device and the second gas storage device, the second gas storage device supplies the high pressure gas to the pneumatic engine, a valve is installed in between the second gas storage device and the pneumatic engine, the pneumatic engine drives the generator to generate electricity and supply the generated electricity enable the second compressor supplies gas to the second gas storage device.
 9. The air conditioner of claim 8, wherein the generator supplies electricity to a cooling fan and a control module of the air conditioner.
 10. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the air conditioner is a cooler, a heater, or a cooler/heater. 